Personal Blog

Mental Note: Trying to take a cell phone picture of you in your dobok and your dog dressed in a kung fu top (both with Santa hats) may seem like a funny thing to do, but trust me, it's just not worth it!

Last night, I was playing air hockey with a friend. I've never been an aggressive game player, but every time I hit the puck, I accidentally let out a loud kihap. It was just automatic. Maybe next time I absent mindedly forget to kihap in class, I'll have to pretend I'm playing air hockey. Oh, and by the way, I did win the game!

Dear Santa,
There is one thing that I would like very much for Christmas (besides world peace, which Miss. America already asked you for) That is: for more adults to come to Taekwondo class. Don’t get me wrong - I enjoy practicing Taekwondo with the students who do come to evening classes. But I know that we have some students who stopped coming to class, and I wish they would come back! I know they are probably busy getting ready for the holidays. But don’t they realize that taking class helps with the stress of doing all that Christmas stuff??!! Class is only an hour. It’s not that hard to fit into a busy schedule. Plus, if they are like me and have a hard time resisting Christmas cookies, it burns those extra calories!  read more »

Even though I recently got my Black Belt, I don’t consider myself to be an “expert” on testing. However, I have learned a great deal along the way by observing and participating in many of them. I have learned much from my own mistakes, and by hearing Sabumnim make corrections to myself and others. I would rather give tips before testing – it’s much more useful than waiting till afterwards to give advice to participants.

1. The testing booklet: Make every attempt to hand it in before testing day so that you don’t have to stress about finding it at 9:45am on the morning of color belt testing. I confess that I can be a slob, and lately, I feel like I’m losing the “War on Clutter.” However, I keep my booklet in a wooden filing cabinet in a file labeled "Taekwondo." It is simple to find because it is right in front of my least favorite file: "TAX." Ugh!  read more »

While in Philadelphia for testing, I thought I’d take the opportunity to take a Black Belt class at Headquarters. At HQ, Blue belts can attend BB class with permission of their Sabumnim, so Beth Kurtz (my skit partner in crime) bravely accompanied me.

Since there are so many students at HQ and surrounding dojangs, BB children have their own separate class. Both adult and children BB classes are 1 hour & ½. We walked in on the latter part of the children’s class and they were free sparring. Those kids were seemed pretty tough. I don’t think I’d want to free spar with some of the bigger ones!  read more »

My self-control "score" on a typical day:

- Went to the gym instead of going to Sports Rock to watch the Steeler game (thus avoided beer and greasy appetizer calories) = +1 point

- Resisted the urge to lay on my horn (one of my biggest guilty pleasures) at the pokey driver who went 10 miles an hour, causing me to miss the green arrow (Grrrrrr!) = +1 point

- Ate a huge iced cutout cookie at Giant Eagle after the gym. Everything else in the cart was a healthy food item (ironic, isn't it?)
= - 1 point

- Took time to cook a healthy recipe (baked sweet potato fries) with dinner instead of whipping up the Stove Top stuffing (which would have taken 5 minutes as opposed to 45 minutes) = +1 point.  read more »

Warning: this is going to be long. Kind reader, I advise you to grab some popcorn and a coke, or well, diet coke, bottled water...you get the idea.

Years ago, I had an Internship at the local NBC affiliate, WPXI. One of my jobs was to read a program summary for certain shows, and write 10 second promos, which would later be recorded by an announcer. Usually, these were of the sleazy tabloid variety such as "Men find out if they are the father...today on the Jenny Jones Show." But one summary paragraph for the TV show, Hard Copy, piqued my interest. It was about Bridget “baby doll” Riley…a top female kickboxer, who was only 2 years younger than me. "Hmmm…kickboxing…that sounds neat!" I thought. Boxing had never interested me, but the thought of executing fancy kicking techniques, in addition to punching made it different and exciting. As time went by, I would pass martial art schools while driving, and think about stopping in to ask about classes, but didn’t. Here is an embarrassing truth: it was after the internship that I discovered the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Like the title would imply, the chief character, "Buffy," would protect the world, or at least her fictional California town, from vampires and other evil creatures. During the fight scenes she would use martial arts style kicks and punches to “vanquish” the demons. This soon became "appointment TV" for me, but I enjoyed the fight scenes most of all. I was definitely going to try martial arts because I wanted to do these cool jumping, kicking, and punching techniques (minus the whole killing of vampires thing).  read more »

Recently, I completed the MS150, which is a two-day I50 mile course through the rolling hills, (did I mention HILLS???) of PA. This was around 29 combined total hours of riding so I had A LOT of time to ponder all kinds of things. But one thing that occurred to me was how this bike ride reminded me of Taekwon-Do. For example:

Lesson #1: It’s essential to have the right equipment.

Before the race, I purchased a bike helmet, gloves, arm warmers, handlebar bag,, windbreaker, and perhaps the most important purchase of all, the padded bike shorts! I’ll be honest – the cost of bike equipment left a void in my wallet. But once on the course, these things were invaluable. The weather was sunny, but windy, and chilly most of the time, which made the windbreaker essential to have. The arm warmers underneath served their purpose well, keeping me cozy. As for the padded bike shorts…well they were the best investment of all! Thinking about my bicycle equipment brought me back to a segment of the instructor’s course in Philly where Sabumnim Marcello spoke about the fact that, as an instructor you may often have to explain to students and parents, the need to buy equipment, and that this is often met with opposition due to the impact on the wallet. It’s not inexpensive to buy the necessary gear, as well as breaking boards, but these are necessary tools to have in Taekwon-Do. Testing and tournaments cost money too. However, they are part of the "equipment" that we need to be successful in Taekwon-Do. After all, Taekwon-Do more important that a few less weekends eating out, or stuff that we might buy on a whim and quickly become bored with? The outfit you splurge on may be out of style in a year, unlike the functional dobok and protective gear that are ALWAYS in style in the dojang. If you realize what your priorities in life are, it’s easy to see how equipping yourself serves your best interest.  read more »

Aikido: A martial art which allows you to defeat your enemy without hurting him. Unless of course he does not know how to properly throw himself to the ground in which case he has his wrist broken in about 20 places. Also known a 'origami with people.'

Arnis: "Harness of the hand." A Filpino martial art, also known as eskrima and kali, centering around stick, blade and empty hand combat. Mispronanciation of the art guarantees a quick taste.

Back Kick: A kick where you turn your back on your oppenent, then kick them without looking.  read more »

The perceptive reader might notice that the few "signs" that seem rather specific and may well conclude that the author is speaking from experience!

0-5: You need to train more.

5-10: You still have a life, you need to work on this.

15-20: It's getting serious.

20-30: Let me recommend therapy.

30+: You are beyond all hope!  read more »

• People find it difficult to carry on a conversation with you since you keep shifting between stances and practicing kicks while talking to them.
• When tripping over your shoelaces you bounce up into fighting stance with a Kiup.